Love Hina: Troubles of a Ronin
by SulliMike23
Summary: This is my version of how Keitaro met the girls. Please note there will be some OOC's from the girls. NO CHARACTER BASHINGS IN REVIEWS!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Well I figured since I'm having difficulty finishing chapter 3 of "Blind Love" I should start out with my version of how Keitaro met the girls. Now, the girls will still be sort of the same and a couple of them will probably be OOC, but I wanted to put the whole thing in my perspective and see how Keitaro manages without the girls bashing him around quite so much. They'll still bash him around, I can assure you of that, but at least this time it won't be TOO severe.

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**Love Hina: Troubles of a Ronin  
**By: SulliMike23

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Prologue: 15 years ago

_It was a sunny afternoon around the Hinata town playground. Children were running around having fun. A certain pair of kids was playing in the sandbox; they were both five years old and they were a boy and a girl. The boy had short dark brown hair and wore a pair of shorts and a yellow t-shirt. The little girl had short brown hair and wore a red overall skirt over a red and white stripped shirt. The two of them were patting a pile of sand together. The girl then looked at the boy._

_"Did you know that if two people go into Todai together they fall in love and live happily ever after?" She said looking at the boy with a cute, innocent smile._

_"Really?" The boy asked looking at her. She then giggled, took his head with her hand, and kissed his cheek. The boy was wide-eyed from shock but was blushing wildly from the girl's actions. They then looked at each other and he noticed that she was blushing too._

_"Kei-kun, let's go to Todai together when we grow up ok?" The girl asked him with a smile._

_It took a moment for little Kei-kun to answer but he nodded with a smile of his own. "Ok!"_

_"Promise?" She asked again bringing her pinky up._

_"Promise!" He replied as he brought his pinky up and linked it with hers. The scene then whites out…

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Chapter 1: A Tough Brainiac

_Present day_

BAM! That was the sound he heard when the fist collided with his face. He fell to the floor and landed on his rear-end and looked up. In front of him three guys much like his age were standing towering, and laughing at him. The one in the middle was cracking the knuckles of his left hand. He then took his left hand again and grabbed the boy by his shirt and brought him up to face him.

"Had enough yet Urashima?" The bully asked with a grin that made the boy cringe with fear.

"C'mon guys, can't we talk about this?" The boy stuttered through a tiny voice.

"Sure!" The guy said with a sarcastic, cheerful look. "How about this? Give up Todai already, you'll never make it!"

_"My name is Keitaro Urashima; I'm nineteen years old and living in Tokyo, for the moment. As you're undoubtedly aware, I'm trying to get into Todai or Tokyo University. However, because my grades are in the 48 percentile I've been a two-year ronin. In other words, I failed the entrance exam two years in a row. Now you're probably asking, "Why would a guy who failed two years continue to strive to get into a prestigious school like Tokyo University?" The thing is I made a promise to a little girl fifteen years ago to get into Todai together._

_"Yep, that was me in that little flashback I had before those punks you see now punched me square in the face. You see, after we made that promise the girl had to leave since her parents were only staying at my grandmother's hotel in Hinata town temporarily. I had to run after the moving truck she was in but we said we would keep that promise that we would meet in Todai together. But because of my little promise I've been ridiculed by other students, teachers, and my parents alike. It's not because it's a dream nobody can accomplish, it's because at the rate my grades are I've been told that my promise is a lost cause._

_"But I don't believe that, to me a promise is a promise no matter how hard it can be to keep it. Even though I have people who ridicule my promise, there are those who still support me. Two of them happen to be my aunt and my grandmother. Since my parents are kicking me out of my house because they've given up on me, I'm hoping my grandmother will let me stay at her place. Anyway, back to my current predicament…"_

"Yeah pal, you're just too stupid to even get in there. So just give it up!" One of the other goons said with a grin.

"But I can't!" Keitaro nearly shouted in both anger and fear.

"Yeah, yeah, we've heard that story about your 'promise girl' HA! Don't make us laugh!" The third said in a mocking tone of voice.

"Just forget it Urashima, that girl's probably grown up, already in Todai, and forgotten about you already. Even if she did remember you, what are the chances that she'll wanna date a loser like you?" The lead punk said with a sinister grin.

"Hey knock it off!" Came another voice from behind Keitaro.

The three punks looked and saw a girl standing behind Keitaro with her arms crossed and a look of anger etched on her face. Although her eyes were covered by her glasses (which kinda were goofy looking), they could tell she was not a happy person at the moment. The girl wore a red sweater with the word 'Salem' on the front written in yellow, and a tan skirt that went down to her thighs. Her auburn hair was tied in a pair of braided pigtails behind her head. She looked no older than Keitaro.

"Stay out of this girlie, we're trying to talk some sense into this idiot here." The lead punk said while motioning towards Keitaro with his other hand.

"Oh spare me; you call punching and taunting a guy talking some sense?" The girl said with a huffy voice.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, now why don't you do us a favor and just butt out!" The lead punk said putting Keitaro down for a minute then walking to the girl. "Or do I have to make ya?"

The girl narrowed her eyes and snarled, "Don't make me angry pal, you wouldn't like me when I'm angry." (A/N: Ain't that the truth!)

"Ooh…" The three punks said in a mocking tone of voice. "Tough talk, girlie, let's see if you can back those words up." The leader said before pushing her, little did he realize he touched her in the chest area were a certain couple of…shall we say…mounds were.

This made the girl snap, she began to crack her right hand's knuckles. The guy noticed it and chuckled. "Ooh…so ya wanna hit me? Ok, give me your best shot." (A/N: He asked for it!)

"Gladly." The girl said flatly with a smirk. She then wound back her fist and thrust it towards the guy's face. The moment it made contact, the guy felt like he was hit by a ten ton sledgehammer; the force of the punch also sent him flying past several people in the hallway of the building who had been observing those three humiliating Keitaro. The guy finally stopped after hitting a wall that was about 50 yards away from their current location. Everyone who witnessed the event was wide-eyed from shock. How could a girl like her send a muscle-bound punk like him soaring into a wall 50 yards down the hall?

The other two punks turned to the girl in fear. "Ok, who's next?" The girl asked with a devilish grin.

"Not me!" The two remaining punks said in unison before running away for their lives.

Like those punks, Keitaro sat their wide-eyed from what he had witnessed. This girl actually went out of her way and helped him out from three of the biggest jerks on the planet. He had been punched before…but this girl punched the guy as if he was a stuffed animal! All at once the crowd began to dissipate and the girl walked to Keitaro with a smile.

"It's all right, I'm not gonna hurt you." The girl said reassuringly while extending her hand towards him.

He hesitantly took it as she helped him get on his feet. The moment he got to his feet he noted how short the girl was compared to him. The top of her head seemed to stop at the bottom of his nose.

"Thanks." He said looking at where the lead punk was.

"No problem." She giggled noticing his expression. Her face then became serious. "You really shouldn't let guys like them push you around like that."

"Yeah, but I'm used to it." Keitaro said almost dejectedly. The girl simply looked at him with a frown.

"C'mon, let's get you cleaned up." She said as she took his arm and headed towards the bathrooms.

A few moments later, the two of them agreed to have lunch together and were now sitting across from each other in the prep school's cafeteria eating their separate lunches. After arriving at the men's bathroom, the girl let Keitaro wash his face from any blood that stained it and a little fixing of his glasses as well. After that, the girl took him to the main doctor's office and had him patched up from his bruises and cuts.

"So…what were those guys harassing you for anyway?" The girl asked breaking the little silence they had when they started eating.

Keitaro let out a sigh, "They just enjoy watching me squirm in their teasing, taunting, and fists."

"You really shouldn't let guys like them get to you. Don't you know how to fight back?" The girl said with a serious look on her face.

"I know but they just can't seem to leave me alone no matter HOW much I don't let 'em get to me. As for fighting back, sadly I don't know how to fight." Keitaro replied after taking a bite of his sandwich.

"Well maybe if I introduce you to a friend of mine, I'm sure she would help you learn how to fight; although, she is kind of a sexist." She said with a slight grin at the end.

"Well that would be nice, but to be honest I don't wanna stoop to their levels. I would fight back if I had to, but I at least know the consequences." Keitaro replied with a slight frown.

"What were they talking about when they were saying that you wouldn't get into Todai?" The girl inquired while raising an eyebrow.

Keitaro let out a very heavy sigh this time, "Well, it's a long story but it's basically the fact that I've already failed the entrance exam two times already."

"Two times? You mean you're a two-year ronin?" Keitaro nodded. "So why haven't you tried out for any other colleges if your grades are that bad?"

"Well…it's kind of a personal subject." Keitaro said scratching his cheek with his right index finger.

"Please tell me, at least your reason to going for Todai?" She asked with a pleading look. That got Keitaro; he couldn't resist making others happy and its best if he let her curiosity know.

With a sigh he said, "Ok, but if I tell you do you promise not to laugh?"

"I promise." The girl simply said.

With another sigh Keitaro continued, "Well, when I was five years old I made a promise to a little girl that we would go into Todai together." The girl lifted her head looking at Keitaro. "Although she left the next day we still made that promise and I intend to keep it."

"Well it's an awfully big promise to keep. But are your grades really that bad?" She said placing her head into her left hand finishing up the rest of her food.

"Sadly yes," Keitaro sighed. "My grades are in the 48 percentile and it's because I've been struggling to get in that people have often ridiculed me for my reason to get in. Even my parents gave up on me and are kicking me out of my house today."

"That's ridiculous; your parents should be supporting you on your decision." The girl nearly exclaimed trying not to draw any attention to herself.

"Tell that to them," Keitaro scoffed. "They still love me and all, but because of the fact that I failed two times they don't wanna give me the support for it, they don't want to deal with me struggling at home."

"That stinks, is there anyone who _does_ support you?" She asked emphasizing the word 'does'.

"Well, yes, two people actually;" Keitaro replied. "My grandmother and my aunt. They know of my reason to get in and have backed me up almost every step of the way."

"I take it you're going to ask one of them if they'll let you stay with them." She asked but already knowing the answer.

"Yep, my best option is my grandmother. She owns a hotel in Hinata Hot Springs and I'm hoping that she'll let me stay there for free or at least give me some sort of option for me to stay there." Keitaro explained. The girl's eyebrows rose.

"Did you say 'Hinata Hot Springs'?" She asked.

"Yeah, my grandmother is the landlord of the Hinata-sou." Keitaro replied.

"Well, I'm afraid your information is a little behind." She stated with a frown.

"What do you mean?" Keitaro now asked raising his eyebrow.

"Well, it just so happens that I'm a tenant at your grandmother's hotel." She replied.

"Really?" Keitaro asked getting excited.

"Yes, and by being behind on your information, I mean that your grandmother turned the place into an all-girls dormitory three years ago." She said again with another frown.

"What?" Keitaro nearly shouted. "She turned the place into a girls' dormitory and didn't tell me?"

"Yep."

"Oh great…" Keitaro said lowering his head. "But she's still there right; if she is maybe she can convince the other tenants to allow me to stay."

"I'm afraid not." The girl sighed. "She left for a round the world trip about a year ago. She still keeps in touch with us and sends us faxes, letters, and gives us phone calls every now and then."

"Oh great…there goes my place to stay." Keitaro said sadly putting his forehead into his hands.

"What about your aunt?" She asked again.

"Sadly I don't know where she lives. If my grandmother wouldn't let me stay at her place I would've asked her where my aunt lives so I could then ask her to let me stay at her place." Keitaro explained after breathing a sigh.

"Well you probably don't have to look any further." The girl said with a smile. "It just so happens she's running the café down the steps to Hinata-sou."

"Seriously?" Keitaro asked as his eyes widened with hope.

"Yep, I'm sure she'll let you stay with her for a while." The girl said again as her smile widened. "And you know something; maybe, if I can convince the other tenants, we could study together."

"Really? You'd do that?" Keitaro smiled even brighter as she said that.

"Sure, it's not everyday someone like you has a very strong reason to go into a place like Todai." She replied with a happy nod.

"Gee thanks!" Keitaro said gratefully. But then it finally hit him, he didn't introduce himself and neither did she. "Oh, you know in all of the excitement I never introduced myself. My name is Keitaro Urashima."

The girl smiled again, "My name is Naru Narusegawa, nice to meet you." She then checked her wristwatch for the time. "Oh, I think we should get back to our classes don't you think?"

"Yeah, we don't wanna be late." Keitaro said as the two of them got up. "Thanks again Naru."

"You're welcome Keitaro." Naru said. Then, without warning, she leaned up and gave him a small peck on the cheek before walking off. _'Why did I do that?'_

Keitaro simply stared after her wide-eyed. He then brought his hand to the cheek she kissed and smiled even more. This is what he needed to make his day a whole lot better. Now all he had to do was finish up for the day, grab his stuff, and head to his aunt's. Then hopefully, later tonight he would study with Naru if the other tenants of his grandmother's Inn let him.

_'I guess god isn't _totally_ against me.'

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**TBC…**

A/N: Whew! Well, I hope I can continue with this and finish up with "Blind Love". OH! BTW, this IS going to be a Keitaro/Naru fanfic so anyone who is not a fan of this couple or Naru, you don't have to continue reading this. However, if you do decide to continue reading this I do not, repeat DO NOT want to see ANY bad comments about Naru or I WILL block you from reviewing my stories is that clear? If there is one thing I will not tolerate its character bashing!


	2. Important!

**IMPORTANT!**

Hey everyone, first of all, I must tell all of you that for the next month or so I probably won't be sending any reviews and definitely not writing my stories for a while. Reason for this is I'm leaving for college on Thursday October 6th. My journey will take me to Minnesota; more specifically, Minneapolis. So those of you who live in Minnie better be ready in case we run into each other (and not know it).

Second, do not, repeat do not send e-mails to my AOL account. Reason for that is my mom's finally deciding to remove it from our bills since she got laid off and we need to save all the money we can. As for me, I'm hoping to find a job once I get to Minnie. So to all of those I may never see again, I'll miss ya you all have been great support for the stuff I write.

As Tigger would say, "TTFN, Ta ta for now!"

Mike.


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